Bangalore 26 February, 2018 (CCBI): Most Rev. Kagithapu Mariadas (81) Archbishop Emeritus of Visakhapatnam passed away on Monday 26 February, 2018 at 2.30pm at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Visakhapatnam. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, 28 February, 2018, at 10am, at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Gnanapuram Visakhapatnam. For last five years he was staying at Jubilee Home. He was ill for last two months and getting treated in St. Joseph’s hospital.

Archbishop Kagithapu Mariadas was born on 7 September, 1936 in Gnanapuram in Visakhapatnam Diocese. He was ordained a priest on 10 June, 1961 in the Congregation of Missionaries of Francis de Sales. His Holiness Pope Paul VI appointed him as the fourth Bishop of Guntur on 19 December, 1974 and ordained as Bishop on 5 May, 1977 by Cardinal Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy. His Holiness Pope St. John Paul II appointed him as the Bishop of Visakhapatnam on 10 September 1982 and it was installed as on 26 January, 1983.

With the elevation to the Archdiocese on 16 October 2001 he was appointed Archbishop of Visakhapatnam. Before becoming a prelate, Archbishop Mariadas was a professor at St. Peter’s Seminary in Bangalore. On 3 July, 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation from the pastoral care of the Archdiocese of Vishakhapatnam. He is a priest for 56 years and a bishop for 40 years